Dining At Leng
by Morris Kenyon
Summary: Celebrating their anniversary, Abe Roseman decides to treat Julia to a special meal in Leng's – the new diner that's opened in town to rave reviews. Perfect. But Leng's is not all it seems and hides dark secrets. Unwittingly, the young couple stumble into a realm of horror unlike anything they have experienced where their only hope of salvation rests on the unexpected...
1. Chapter 1 Leng's Diner

CHAPTER 1: LENG'S DINER

Picking up his copy of the Toledo News, Abe Roseman re-read the review he'd earlier circled. _'The restaurant is sited in a rather unassuming converted store that's quite easy to miss. However, the interior will remind visitors of the barren landscapes of Central Asia. The decor allows the unusual, novel flavours of the food to really shine, though the cuisine isn't the only thing bringing folks to Leng's. The restaurant buzzed with excited energy and was comfortably full with satisfied patrons.'_

The review went on to praise the attentive staff before discussing the unusual foods. Abe leaned back in his executive leather chair and looked out the window. From his office, he had a fine view over the Maumee River and traffic crossing the Skyway bridge itself. Sighing, he turned back to the task in hand. Deciding where to take his partner, Julia, on the first anniversary of their first date.

After that review, he was tempted by Leng's. New restaurants in Toledo, Ohio, were not unusual for a city of over three hundred thousand. Restaurants, diners and fast-food franchises came and went regularly, serving the needs of Toledo's residents.

Reading on, the columnist commented on the unusual and interesting food she couldn't identify – unlike the more familiar Szechuan, Cantonese or even Mongolian food. The only negative comment was that she was piqued that the restaurant wouldn't provide details as to the food's provenance. Also, she said the wine labels were written in a foreign script with no translation provided. She did mention that it was rich and heavy and complemented the food.

Perhaps it wasn't the most glowing review she'd ever written but Leng's sounded different, somewhere unusual that Julia might appreciate. She had been moaning recently about always doing the same old things and going the same old places. Well, this restaurant might get them out of a rut.

Sitting behind his desk, Abe Roseman swiveled around again in his executive chair and admired the view from his fifteenth floor office window. If he sat at the correct angle and tilted his head, he could just see Lake Erie in the distance. On a sunny day like today, the water sparkled and glinted. A power-boat raced over the waves and out on the horizon a container ship hauled freight towards Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence river. He loved his office – one of the perks of working for this practice.

Abe's girlfriend, Julia, loved Chinese food and as their first anniversary – and first proper kiss for that matter – was coming up, he thought he'd book a table. It should earn him a few brownie points for later. Heh, heh, he grinned to himself.

Checking Leng's details on the Internet, Abe picked up the phone to make a reservation. Normally, he'd ask his secretary, Rita, to make the booking but that woman couldn't keep a secret. If Julia called the office, Rita would spill the beans for sure. Not that he should need to book on a Tuesday night, he thought as he keyed in the number. But you can never be too sure – and covering all the bases was one of the traits that had got him where he was. On the way to making full partner within the next five years or so.

At the other end, the phone rang out. And rang out. And rang out.

"C'mon, pick up the phone. I'm trying to give you money here," he muttered. For a moment, he thought about his Dad who'd served in Vietnam. As well as picking up a Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound in his thigh, his old man had come back with a biting hatred of 'gooks'. There was no way his Dad would ever eat in a place called Leng. Burger and fries at roadside diners or a steakhouse if he was pushing the boat out. That was more his Dad's scene.

"C'mon, c'mon," Abe muttered again. He'd give it another thirty seconds, no more, and then he'd give up and book a table at the 'Golden Palace' instead. That was a good restaurant on the lake front with a well-chosen menu and Julia always liked eating there. They were regulars, after all, the staff knew them and they got attentive service. However, he'd like to surprise her and take her somewhere different for a change.

"Leng's," a man's voice said. It was heavily accented but he couldn't place it. It didn't sound Chinese, Korean or even Vietnamese. For an instant, Abe was tempted to slam down the phone as the voice sounded – well, evil was the word that came to mind. It sounded hollow and inhuman as if it came from some different sphere of reality. Abe shivered.

"Leng's," the other man said again.

"Can I book a table? For Tuesday, please," Abe found himself saying.

He heard the sound of pages being turned. As an attorney, Abe knew the sound paper makes better than most. Yet this sounded more like vellum – pages made of skin. Where had that notion come from?

"For what time, sir?"

Once again, Abe was tempted to call the whole thing off. Go to the 'Golden Palace' instead – he would be on safe ground there. Instead he found himself saying, "Eight, please."

There was an interminable silence and Abe thought of the phone line stretching through incredible gulfs of time and space, as if the restaurant was not of this earth – or even this universe. And where had that notion come from? Abe rubbed his forehead, trying to dispel an imminent headache.

Sometimes, it felt like he was cracking up. For sure, he had several big cases on and it felt like he was juggling too many balls in the air. He'd been working hard lately, too hard perhaps, trying to make a good impression. After he'd cleared his desk, he'd take a few days leave and persuade Julia to do the same. Then they'd fly to Chicago, book a top hotel, take in some culture and they could forget all their pressures.

The voice came back. "Eight is fine, sir. Table for two?"

"Yes, thanks," Abe said, now eager to finish this conversation.

The man took his name, said goodbye and Abe dropped the phone onto its cradle. He sat back in his black swivel chair and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. Why had he been so affected by a simple call?

"Snap out of it," he told himself. Sure, as an associate lawyer, he felt like an overworked character in a John Grisham novel but it wouldn't do to let stress affect him like this. Before you knew it, office gossip would spread its tentacles – where had that image come from? – and the old guys who were the senior partners would start wondering about his fitness to practice. From there, it was the start of a slippery slope to the exit. Then he'd end up working for peanuts for some low-rent outfit defending shoplifters, street hoodlums and gang-bangers. No, not for him.

Making a note of the reservation in his diary, Abe pushed the disturbing voice from his mind and picked up Mr. Dyer's appeal against the city's zoning resrictions. Within minutes, he'd pushed the conversation to the back of his mind.

Tuesday came. Abe hurried back to his office from court. Fortunately Judge McGaskill always finished on time. Rumors that as soon as court cleared, the old Judge would hit the bottle were completely unfounded. At least, Abe took no notice of them. He looked at the blinking light on his answering machine, the files that clogged his in-tray, a slew of post-it notes on his desk pad. Usually, he'd be hard at work for another three hours plus.

But not tonight. No way. The partners wouldn't mind once if he left the building at what most workers would consider the end of a working day. All the same, Abe felt like a truanting schoolboy as he took the elevator down and sneaked out the lobby. Heart in his mouth, half expecting to hear someone shout, "Roseman – where do you think you're going?" he passed through the revolving doors and out onto the sidewalk.

He looked up. "Wow. It's still light." It was rare that he got away before dark at this time of year. The sun was still shining although clouds were banking up in the west. Climbing into his red Toyota Camry, he pulled out of his parking space and headed home. That was one of the disadvantages of leaving at the same time as everyone else. The traffic was much heavier than he was used to.

Arriving at their new-build home in the upmarket suburb of Perrysburg, he saw Julia's Ford Focus on the driveway. Abe grinned, glad that she had managed to get away from her job in the University Hospital's finance department. He let himself in and immediately their little black and white cat, Oreo, appeared from out her favorite place – a sunny patch under the window – and wrapped herself around his legs. She was purring. Abe had bought Oreo as a kitten for Julia but Oreo had formed a stronger attraction for Abe than Julia. Deep down, he was pleased by that.

"Cupboard love, that's all it is," he said, reaching down and stroking the cat on her head. However, he knew it was more than that. Oreo definitely felt affection for him and would curl up on his lap when they watched TV. Crossing to the kitchen, he poured more food into her bowl and topped up her water. "We're going out tonight. Look after the place for us," he told the cat. Oreo glanced up at his voice, seeming to listen, but then returned to her food.

Leaving the kitchen, he ran upstairs to find Julia sitting at her dressing table putting on the finishing touches to her make-up. Not for the first time, Abe realized he was punching above his weight, as the saying has it. In the mirror, he saw Julia's Mediterranean good looks, showing her Spanish / Moroccan Sephardic ancestry, reflected back at him. She had dark, curly hair, sloe-eyes of the darkest chocolate-brown, skin that tanned easily whenever she caught the sun, and full rose-red lips. She wore a low-cut little black dress Abe had never seen before. For a moment, he wondered how much that cost. Worth it though as tonight she looked like a Hollywood A-lister.

"Give me a hand with this," Julia said, holding up a gold chain-link necklace.

Crossing their bedroom, Abe draped the chain around her neck. The Star of David pendant fell between the swell of her rounded breasts. From his viewpoint, it was obvious she wasn't wearing a bra which made him feel like ripping her dress off with his teeth, picking her up and throwing her bodily onto their King Size bed. Instead, holding back his urges, he leaned forward and kissed her neck.

"I bought you these," he said, handing his wife a bouquet he'd picked up at the filling station on the way home.

Julia sniffed the red roses before kissing him. "How romantic. Ah, the delightful scent of flowers mixed with gasoline. Just what every girl loves most." She was smiling as she said that.

"You know me too well," Abe grinned, blushing. "Anyway, Leng's should be something different."

Abe snatched a quick shower before putting on his favorite dark blue shirt and a lightweight suit. Sucking in his gut, he glanced at himself in the mirror. Even Abe had to admit that he didn't look like Tom Cruise in the movie 'The Firm'. He could do with losing a few pounds and finding time to work out some. It was just so difficult with all the hours he put in at work. Rubbing his head, it felt like that thin spot up top was getting larger. But his eyes were still kind although there were more wrinkles around them than a few months ago. However, Julia loved him as he was.

"Shall I drive?" he asked, tossing the keys from hand to hand. He didn't enjoy alcohol that much so it was no hardship.

"Thanks," she said before drawing him close and kissing him on the mouth. With another little smile she took a Kleenex from the box and wiped away lipstick from his lips.

They got into his Camry and he turned right out of Glenwood Avenue, heading towards town. Swinging away from downtown where most bars and restaurants were located, he turned north onto I-75. As always, the interstate was busy. He got a raised eyebrow from his wife.

"It's out of town a little ways," he said, crossing over a few more junctions. Away from downtown's bustle, traffic thinned and the area became poorer, the houses older and more run-down. They passed a cheap diner with hand-written specials posted in the windows. Next to it stood a thrift store with a few haggard people loitering outside smoking. Julia spotted a furtive transaction by a battered pick-up. A quick touch of hands, that's all, but it was enough.

"Nice place you're taking me. I'm sure that was a drug deal I just saw," she said.

"Want me to swing back and get you some?" Abe grinned, trying to make a joke of it. Like his wife, he didn't come to this part of the city much. Since the riots, back in the 1980s, this area had gone downhill as good families had left to be replaced by a floating population of transients, low-skilled immigrants and ex-cons. However, City Hall had recently decided to stop the rot and was spending tax dollars on regenerating the area around Shoreland Avenue.

In both Abe's and Julia's view, there was still a long way to go.

Then Leng's came into view. The restaurant itself was a gray cinder-block building standing by itself on seeming acres of empty land. The walls had been painted black and the windows shuttered. In the distance, a cluster of trailers huddled together. Part of the land near to Leng's had been roughly concreted to make a parking lot which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. Trapped plastic bags fluttered in the wind like the crude flags of a barbarian army.

The rest of the cleared land was strewn with broken bricks, bottles, trash and builder's rubble. Under gray skies, it looked a depressing, desolate, scene. Driving over a bumpy, pot-holed track to the parking lot, he saw Julia shiver. For a moment, he thought about turning round and heading back into town as he knew they'd find somewhere open that looked more welcoming than Leng's. Hell, even McDonald's looked more promising.

However, they were here now. Putting the Camry in park, he turned off the engine. In the silence as they got out, they heard wind whining over the derelict – plain. Where had that idea come from, Abe wondered. It wasn't a plain, merely an empty parking lot on the edge of town.

Taking Julia's arm, Abe supported her over the rough ground. She wore heels, making her almost as tall as himself, but they didn't help her stability. To one side of the lot was a realtor's sign board giving details of a proposed furniture store. Somebody had sprayed the word 'Tsathoggua' over the sign in blood-red letters. Julia shivered again and snuggled closer to him, making Abe feel more macho. All the same, that word struck him as sinister somehow.

"Probably some Death Metal band?" Abe guessed.


	2. Chapter 2 Forbidden Food

CHAPTER 2: FORBIDDEN FOOD

Julia was about to speak, about to suggest they hurry back to their car and hightail it out of here but Abe had opened the restaurant's door. She went inside and a moment later, Abe followed her. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the gloom inside as the walls had been painted dark gray with black-topped tables scattered about the room. From the ceiling hung two chandeliers. Ruby red glass globes scattered light over the room. Some interior designer's attempt at breaking away from the ubiquitous minimalism of most diners these days, Abe reckoned.

A man approached them from behind a bar that took up much of one side. Over recent years, Toledo had seen immigrants from much of the rest of the world, but Abe couldn't place this man's origins at all. He was shorter than average – about 5' 5" or so – and had the widest mouth Abe had ever seen and dark, glittering eyes set in jaundiced-looking skin. He wore a highly embroidered green robe as well as an orange turban. Two strange little humps – almost like horns – stuck up from the front of the turban.

"We have a reservation – Roseman," Abe said, nervous for some reason, although looking around he needn't have bothered. The place was nearly empty with only a handful of customers sprinkled about the room. Okay, it was a Tuesday – usually a quiet night – but somehow he didn't think Leng's would be around much longer. The man nodded, picked up two menus from the bar, escorted them to their table and seated them before handing over the leather-bound menus.

"Would you like something to drink?" the waiter asked. He had an accent, perfectly understandable, but precise and very foreign.

"I'll take a Southern Comfort, please," Julia said.

"Diet Coke for me."

"I'm sorry. We do not serve American drinks," the waiter said.

Abe saw the man had small, sharp teeth and an extremely long, red tongue, although that might have been a trick of the light.

"Whatever. Okay, whatever they have in Leng."

The man nodded again and glided away to the bar. Abe noticed he had unusually small feet.

"What an odd man," he whispered to Julia. However, he noticed that she wasn't listening. Instead, she was looking up at a large painting above them. It depicted a barren plain surrounded by distant saw-tooth mountains – even more desolate and windswept than the parking lot outside – on which stood a low stone building. A man – if it was a man – stood outside the building. Abe thought the scene looked evil somehow. That was probably because it was painted in sombre shades of black, gray and brown except for the man's yellow robe. It seemed a strange choice of picture for a restaurant, although it fitted the rest of the decor.

The waiter returned and placed two red glasses in front of them. He poured from a red bottle. "I will give you time to order," he told them.

"What is this drink?" Abe asked suspiciously.

"Wine from Dylath-Leen," their waiter said, showing them the bottle's label.

It was written in a strange foreign script that neither recognized. All the same, Abe shivered. He had studied law at Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts. Like all students there, he'd heard rumors about strange, forbidden tomes stored in vaults beneath the library. Although the authorities strenuously denied their very existence, those rumors never went away. One night, a friend, Rick, turned up at Abe's room clutching a photocopied sheet he claimed came from a book called Liber Ivonis. The bottle's script seemed similar to the writing of that half-forgotten memory.

When Abe spread out that crumpled sheet, he was amazed by the look of fear on his friend's face. To him, it was just a series of jumbled scribbles but looking closely there seemed to be some underlying meaning behind the text, something incomprehensible. The hooked script looked evil somehow as if dealing with malign forces.

"I shouldn't have come," Rick had said, folding up the paper and tucking it back in his pocket. "I wanted to show you that those rumors are true. Forget you ever saw it." With that, Rick had left and Abe heard his footsteps hurrying away. Abe thought it was just a silly prank – although Rick wasn't the type for jokes – and put it out of his mind. However, he had been plagued by nightmares that week, which he put down to the stress of his upcoming exams.

"One won't hurt you," Julia said, raising her glass. "You'll still be okay to drive."

They clinked glasses and swallowed. He didn't recognize the grape variety. It was sweet and heavy, like a Merlot, but there was a strange under taste. Not unpleasant but Abe wasn't impressed. That said he was no connoisseur. He shivered again as it went down.

"Cold?" whispered Julia, rubbing her bare arms to restore circulation.

Despite wearing a jacket, Abe nodded. The air-conditioning was turned up to the max. Looking at his beloved it was very obvious she wasn't wearing a bra as her nips stuck out prominently. Following his gaze, Julia flushed. "Looked your fill?"

Abe grinned but, acting the gentleman, he took off his jacket and handed it over.

The waiter returned, notepad in hand. "Ready to order, sir?"

Looking at the unfamiliar dishes, Abe selected Parg Beef with rice while Julia opted for black-bean Ultharian. With a nod, the waiter took away their menus.

"Wonder what Ultharian is?" Julia wondered.

"Should be good – whatever it is."

"And did you see his funny little turban? What's the point of those little points?"

"He's probably got horns under there," Abe joked. "Seriously, I guess it's some religious symbol."

Julia fingered her Star of David pendant. "Probably you're right. But I've never heard of anything like that before." She looked uneasy.

Trying to cheer her up, Abe said, "It's certainly different here but unless the food's really great, we won't come here again. Alright?"

They chatted about work, the possibility of getting away to Chicago and other things until a group of waiters appeared. The men were all similar, with wide mouths like horizontal slits and wearing strangely pointed turbans. With a bow, one placed a food warmer on the table, another topped up their glasses while another set down plates and then their food came.

Their waiter ladled food onto their plates then bowed. "Enjoy your meals," he said quietly before moving away.

"What do you think?" Abe asked after a few mouthfuls.

"Excellent – it's well cooked," Julia said chewing reflectively. "Interesting spices, I can taste cumin and coriander, I think, but I don't recognize the meat, although it's a bit like chicken."

"Same here. Mine doesn't taste quite like beef. Perhaps they have different cattle over there – you know like yak or water-buffalo or something. Not sure I'd have it again," Abe said, pushing a piece of meat around his plate with his fork.

"Shall we get a doggy-bag for Oreo?" Julia asked.

Abe shook his head. Oreo, like many cats, was a fussy eater. Neither spoke for a while as the cold and depressing atmosphere chilled conversation.

Leaning forwards, giving Abe a great view down her front, Julia whispered, "We're not stopping for dessert are we?"

Abe shook his head. "No, we'll pick up some Häagen-Dazs at the 7/11 on the way home." Lowering his voice, he said, "Chocolate chip cookie dough flavor and I'll lick it off your tits."

That made Julia flush again. She swatted his arm. "You know what I'll be licking my portion off. And it's not a plate."

"I'll get the bill." Taking out his MasterCard, he beckoned over the waiter. The little man glided over and Abe was struck by how small the man's shoes were – no bigger than a child's. With his wide mouth and horned turban, he was the most unusual guy he'd ever seen.

The man presented the bill – expensive but not unreasonably so and took the card to be swiped. Abe took two $5 bills out of his wallet for a tip.

"I think the cold's got to me," Abe said. "I need the rest room."

"Same here," said Julia. "You'd think they'd turn down the air-conditioning here. No wonder there's so few customers."

Pushing back their chairs, they stood and followed the sign for the rest rooms. It led them down a corridor lined with doors past the kitchens and, through a window, they saw a couple of chefs chopping up and dicing meat. Another was preparing a stir-fry. They looked like they were enjoying their work. From a CD player strange, unearthly music played. It sounded like an atonal mix of bagpipes, flutes and other instruments Abe didn't recognize. If there was a rhythm or beat, then it escaped their ears. Abe shivered, as the strange music combined with the cold air to chill his soul.

"I'll see you out here," Abe said, pushing open the door to the gents.

At least the rest rooms were clean and fresh. After drying his hands, Abe stepped out into the corridor. No sign of Julia. "Women," he muttered. "Why do they always take so long to have a pee?"

Moving down the corridor, he passed a room marked 'Office' and then past the kitchens. One of the chefs came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of diced meat. Like their waiters, he was a short man with a wide mouth and a turban with two humps at the front. However, he wore a bloodied white chef's jacket.

With what Abe guessed was an apology in a foreign language, the man brushed past him and carried the tray down the corridor towards the store. There was still no sign of Julia so, on a whim, Abe followed the chef down the corridor. He wanted to ask the man about their meals as neither recognized the food. Ultharian? Parg? It would be interesting to find out a little more about the unfamiliar cuisine. Nosey Rita was sure to ask tomorrow.

The chef pushed through a double door into the storeroom and cracked open a walk-in freezer. Although knowing this area would be off-limits to customers, following his impulse Abe followed the man through and up to the open freezer.

It took a moment for what he saw to register on his mind. No – this was impossible, yet there could be no room for doubt. As a lawyer, he was used to dealing with facts and compartmentalizing them. Even if he believed a client to be guilty, Abe still presented the best defense possible. Sometimes, he even got an acquittal in the teeth of overwhelming evidence. But there was no mistaking the evidence of his eyes.

Hanging from meat hooks on one side of the freezer was a row of cats, all frozen solid and stiff as boards. Yet that sight, gruesome as it was, wasn't what made him scream. No, far, far worse was what was hanging next to the cats. A frozen corpse of a man, suspended by the ankles, swung in slow circles, his body disturbed by the chef's entrance. In life, the man had been a plump black man. Now the corpse's eyes bulged as if his last sight in life had been one of utter horror.

Alerted by Abe's cries, the chef dropped the tray and it fell to the floor with a clatter, spilling cubes of meat everywhere. The chef shouted something in his own language and, picking up a cleaver from a shelf, advanced on Abe.

That broke his paralysis. Abe turned and ran back out into the corridor. Julia was standing there, looking about her. "What was that? Did you hear a scream?" she said. Noticing Abe's shock, she stepped forward. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"

Gripping her arm, Abe shouted, "Run – get out of here!"

"What?" Then Julia saw the chef with his raised cleaver. They turned and ran back down the corridor towards the main dining area. The other two chefs stepped out of the kitchen, blocking their way. Using his half-forgotten college football training, Abe shoulder charged them, dragging Julia behind him. He was larger and outweighed them and sent one man crashing back through the kitchen door while the other tumbled to the floor with a squawk.

The way ahead was clear.

"C'mon," Abe called back.

Then the ultimate horror stepped into the corridor from the office, blocking their way. Julia's shriek overtopped Abe's. They stopped running, desperate not to touch that abomination. The thing defied any logic – even through their horror they knew this monstrosity was not of this or any sane world.

The thing was man-sized but that was where the resemblance ended. It was a sort of upright, toad-like shape of a pallid pale-gray hue. Slime oozed from its warty skin. Although eyeless, a trembling mass of obscene, pinkish worm-like tentacles on the end of its rounded snout quivered and pointed in their direction; sensing, tasting the air. It raised one of its splayed fore-limbs and hopped towards them with a croaking grunt.

Wide-eyed with horror, Abe nearly threw up his dinner in disgust, but knew he couldn't. Not if he wanted to survive. Holding down his gorge, he turned away from that hideous abomination. Realization hit him that they were caught between this toad-like monster and the three chefs.

Abe simply stared. They were trapped. There was no way out.


	3. Chapter 3 Down the Stairs

CHAPTER 3: DOWN THE STAIRS

"Here," Julia yelled. She threw open one of the corridor's side doors and tugged Abe inside. A flight of steps led down. Dodging past the chef's outstretched arms, Abe leaped through the door and slammed it shut. Putting his shoulder to the door, holding it closed, he braced himself as the men outside tried to force it open. As there were three of them, the door gradually slid open.

Julia threw herself at the door and it slammed closed again. "There's a bolt!" she called out. Reaching up, she slid the heavy bolt to. Even in his terror, he wondered why there was a bolt on this side of the door. A second bolt was on the foot of the door and Abe kicked it home. More fists pounded on the other side – a perfect fusillade of blows. Then there was a more solid blow and the door shook on its hinges.

"C'mon – there must be another way out. A basement entrance or fire exit," Julia said.

They turned and ran down the stairs. They steps were concrete and bulbs enclosed in wire cages lit the way. Half way down, Julia stumbled and nearly fell, only her outstretched hand saving her. Kicking off her heels, she ran barefoot down to the stair return.

Abe expected that they would come to a gloomy basement storage area filled with spare tables, cloths, dusty glasses and such like or else a wine cellar. Instead, another flight of steps led still further down. Behind them, they heard more hammering on the door above. They had no choice. Holding hands, they carried on down. It was only when they were half way down that Abe realized that the steps weren't concrete any more but had been cut from solid rock. The bulbs now looked older and brown cables connected them, the wiring looking pre-war.

Even in his terror, the sane, lawyerly part of his mind wondered why the basement was so deep. He'd never heard of one dug so deep around here. Careful not to slip on the steps, they still hurried down. Another flight, still down and yet another. Now they could no longer hear the hammering of the toad-thing and the men above.

Panting Julia dragged Abe to a halt on the next return. "I need a rest," she gasped. Even in the dim half-light, Abe saw her eyes were wide with stress and fear. Not surprising – he guessed his expression matched hers for fright. What the hell was that toad-thing?

"What is this place?" Julia asked.

Putting his finger to his lips for silence, Abe moved a few steps upstairs, the better to hear away from his wife's breathing. Straining his ears he listened intently but couldn't hear any sounds of pursuit. It sounded like they were alone for now. With the logical part of his brain, he wondered what was at the bottom of this seemingly endless flight of stairs. On their way down, they had come across no doors or side corridors or any turn-offs. Nothing. Just step after step, broken only by the returns.

He came back to Julia and watched as she rubbed her bare feet. She had dropped her heels onto the floor and as she leaned forward, grimacing slightly, her left breast almost popped out. Despite their predicament, Abe grinned.

"I've no idea," Abe admitted. "I'm surprised it's not flooded as we must be well below the water table. Nobody has a flight of stairs like this, not even City Hall. I just don't get it."

Voicing his own fears, Julia said, "What's waiting for us at the bottom?"

"That's if there is a bottom. As long as it's not another of those toad-monsters."

Julia shuddered. "That had to be a man dressed up. They can do amazing special effects these days."

Abe nodded. "True." But he sounded doubtful. No way was that Hollywood special effects. It just didn't look like a man in a grotesque rubber suit. Its proportions were just – wrong. Wrong that was the word for it. However, they couldn't stand about talking. They had to carry on down.

Taking her arm, the couple carried on. It was Julia who noticed the next change. The stairs changed from the local limestone to a harder, black basalt. The rock had been polished and, under the dim lights, glowed evilly dark. Julia shuddered.

"How deep are we?" she whispered.

"I've no idea, love, but we must be as deep as a mineshaft now," he replied.

He was unaware of any mines operating locally and had no idea why these steps should exist. At first, he'd wondered if the restaurant had been built over an abandoned shaft – but surely the mine operators capped them off with concrete when they decommissioned the mine. Even if it had been capped and the diner's owners had re-opened the mine, why would they bother carving stairs down? The cost and labor must have been tremendous.

Down and still down. Ever deeper into the earth. At one point they sat and rested and Abe found a packet of Lifesaver mints in a pocket. Never had the name been more appropriate, he thought.

Standing, he held out his hand. "C'mon, love, it must end sometime."

"Unless we come out on the other side of the world," Julia grumbled.

Abe wondered if that might actually happen. Travel through the molten core of the planet and come out – where? Somewhere in the South Pacific, he guessed. That would be nice and for a moment he allowed himself the luxury of fantasizing about living in a palm-thatched hut on a tropical atoll with Julia wearing only a grass skirt and a coconut shell cut in half for a bra. Worse places to emerge, he thought. Somehow, he didn't think that future was on the agenda.

Down and still down on this nightmare stairwell. Their calf muscles protesting at the unaccustomed exercise and aching with overuse. Then Julia shouted, "A door! I can see a door!"

A moment later, the last flight ended in a solid door. It was faced with black-painted steel and two heavy bars, top and bottom, secured it. Closer, they saw a keyhole but, hanging from a hook on the wall next to it, was a mortise key.

Julia reached for the key but Abe brushed her hand away. She looked at him with shock.

"Wait a sec," Abe said. "We don't know what's out there. Could be anything."

"Well, we can't stay here, can we?" Julia said, practically. "And I'm not climbing all the way back up. I don't think I could, for a start, and I don't want to meet those guys up top. Do you?"

Shaking his head, Abe said, "No. But what's on the other side could be much worse. I don't like this at all." He was filled with superstitious dread, possibly because sight of that toad-monster earlier had upset him so much, coupled with this impossible flight of stairs.

After a moment, realizing Julia was right, Abe took the key down from its hook. First, though, he stooped and put his eye to the keyhole. Peering through, he saw nothing except deep blackness. Standing, he shook his head and then slid the key in and turned it. The lock was stiff as if it hadn't been used for a long time – eons perhaps – but gripping the key tightly, he managed to unlock the door. Then he pulled back the top bar while Julia wrestled with the lower one.

"Might be in luck and find ourselves right outside the police HQ," he joked. But he doubted that there was anything good on the other side. Gripping the handle, he pulled. The heavy door resisted his strength at first but gradually it yielded and started to slide open with a screech of unoiled hinges. Encouraged, Abe pulled harder and as soon as she could get her fingers around the door, Julia lent her strength as well. Rust flakes fell down around them.

Cold air poured through the gap with a high-pitched whistling that sounded like distant piping from some terrible demonic flautist. With a heave, Abe wrenched the door open all the way. What was beyond took their breath away. It was so different, so beyond their comprehension. Their hands sought each other and they huddled close, awed and frightened by what they saw.

They weren't at the bottom of a mine shaft, surrounded by rocky walls or even an underground cave. Instead, stretching away until distant saw-toothed mountains clawed their way to the stars was a vast plateau. The plain was rocky, arid and a thin wind blew dust-devils over its surface.

"Where are we?" Julia whispered. She looked up at the stars and didn't recognize any of the constellations. As well, the stars looked too clear and bright, like hard and bitter diamonds. She clung close to Abe, trying to draw strength from his closeness.

"I've no idea," he replied after a minute. This was impossible, except they were living it. Yet at the back of his mind, a little thought nagged at him. He remembered his time at Miskatonic University and some of the hushed whispering and hints circulating among some of the students who claimed to have visited those locked and forbidden vaults beneath the library. Late at night, their tongues loosened by booze or mary-jane, those scholars muttered darkly about places outside the normal confines of time and space. Abe wondered if he had been too quick to dismiss their fantastic imaginings.

They took a few steps away from the door. Julia slipped on her heels to protect her feet from the sharp stones. "I should've brought my sneakers," she complained.

Glancing back at the door, Abe saw no trace of the staircase behind it except through the door's opening. It looked just like a flat, two dimensional door standing all by itself on the plain except when he looked directly through the opening. It was too much to take in. Abe noticed strange, runic characters on this side of the door. He didn't recognize the alphabet but the hard, spiky runes seemed sinister, almost evil somehow, as if they meant no good to anyone.

"We can't go back upstairs. No way," he said.

"Well, where then? We can't stay here neither."

Abe nodded. That was very true. The temperature was a few degrees above freezing but with the wind-chill factor, it felt much colder. Julia wrapped herself tighter in the jacket while Abe, who wore shirt-sleeves shivered. He scanned the plain for some clue of what to do next. What was that?

In the far distance, he saw clusters of lights but they must be many miles away. Too far to walk to without succumbing to hypothermia or something. Squinting against the wind-blown dust and sand he then saw an orange flicker like the warmth from a fire that seemed to be closer. Gripping Julia's arm, he pointed out the glint.

"I can't see anything – no, wait, you're right."

There was nothing else for it. They started out across the rocks. It was either that or die by freezing or thirst. In her high heels, Julia staggered over the rocks until one heel snapped off. With a curse, she pulled off the ruined shoes and flung them away. Yet she was soon limping as the sharp rocks cut her feet. Looking down, Abe saw a trail of blood as she lurched and staggered.

"Here," said Abe, sitting down and unlacing his loafers. They weren't built for cross-country trekking but better than nothing.

"No," Julia said, with tears in her eyes. "I'll be fine. You keep them."

His heart went out to his love. She was so brave – such a strong, fearless woman. All the same, he couldn't let her suffer like that. "No – I insist."

"You always have to play the strong man, don't you? Like you're the hero of some action movie? Did you remember to bring your gun as well?" she snapped.

Where did that come from? He didn't even own a gun. Realizing that she was cold, upset and frightened as well as in a lot of pain, Abe held his tongue.

"I'm sorry," Julia said after a moment. "C'mon, let's find the owner of that light before we both die of cold." She extended her arm and helped him up.

Together, huddling together for warmth as well as for mutual support, they walked across the plain. Abe tried to make sure that they found the easiest looking route as they crossed the wasteland. Starlight gave them just enough visibility to see by. All the same, Abe didn't like the stars. It seemed to him that the constellations hinted at blasphemous, forbidden patterns whose secrets remained just a fraction out of reach to mortal minds. Imagination, he told himself, shock brought on by this unearthly place.

His thoughts were dragged back to the here and now when Julia tripped and fell. She cried out, dropping to the ground. Abe stopped and helped her sit down on a boulder. Her knees were cut and blood trickled down her shins. Looking into her eyes, Abe saw tears. Tears of fear and exhaustion as well as shock and pain. Taking a tissue from her purse, Abe pressed it against her knees until the flow slowed and stopped.

"I can't take much more," she said in a low voice.

That worried Abe. One of the things that impressed Abe so much about his girlfriend was how strong she was. Nothing fazed her – she had to be one tough cookie, what with dealing with doctors, patients and their relatives and insurance companies on a daily basis. But this experience was far beyond anything either of them had ever known.

"It's not that far now," Abe said encouragingly. However, in the darkness he wasn't sure how much further they would have to walk. It looked closer than those far distant villages though. The wind moaned around them, plucking at their clothes and chilling them further. He helped Julia to her feet, gave her a quick kiss and then set off again.

Thirst tortured them, their tongues thickened and swelled, grit filled their mouths and even their eyes ran out of tears. Every cell in their dehydrated bodies cried out for moisture, desperately needing even a few drops of water. But in this parched land there was nothing to drink. Licking dried out lips with dried out tongues brought no relief.

As they walked over the seemingly endless land, they came near to a few clusters of dried out plants – like camel thorns, Abe thought. Their spines were cruelly sharp and snagged their clothes as they passed, ripping and tearing as if the plants wanted to hold them fast and then cut them to ribbons searching for much needed moisture from their blood. He shuddered but it wasn't easy avoiding all those viciously barbed bushes.

After a while, the building came closer to view. Part of the building – which looked to be centuries or even millennia old – had crumbled away to ruins but what was left was impressive. It was a large, gray, stone building, single story. The dry-stone walls were built of Cyclopean stones, neatly fitted together with no gaps between the masonry. In a way, it reminded him of the ruins of Machu Picchu he'd visited when he was at university although this seemed much older. The roof was formed from massive slates. It was plain and functional and the only ornamental feature was a pagoda-like belfry above one corner by the gate.

Under the starlight, the place seemed unwelcoming, even forbidding as if guarding secrets old when this universe was young. There were few windows set in the walls and they were narrow arrow-slits. From one of the windows glowed the orange light which had guided them here. Up close, even the light seemed strange and unwholesome, not warm and friendly firelight, as if it was illuminating terrifying things not of this world.

They looked at each other. Despite their plight, he was reluctant to summon help from this place but one look at Julia convinced him otherwise. Despite her bravery and refusal to make a fuss, she was in a bad way. Her feet were sliced to ribbons, her knees were seizing up and it was obvious she couldn't walk much further. As bad, she was shivering with cold. It wouldn't be long before she collapsed with hypothermia or dehydration. Walking around the corner, they came to a massive door, heavily reinforced. More angular runes, similar to those at the staircase's exit, were carved into its surface. Next to the door hung a frayed rope.

Abe looked again at Julia. She was huddled out of the wind with his now filthy jacket wrapped around her. He didn't like the look of this place but beggars can't be choosers. It was this or die of exposure in this alien place. Reaching up, he pulled the rope. The bell above clanged once, it's note dull and cracked. The sound didn't die away at once but seemed to amplify, reverberating through the audient void.

Eventually, the clang faded and died. He shivered – and not with cold this time. What had he summoned?

Julia looked up, her red eyes tired and worn-out. "Let's get away from here," she muttered through cracked lips. "Perhaps we should try one of those villages?"

But then the door opened.


	4. Chapter 4 The Monastery

CHAPTER 4: THE MONASTERY

A man, if man it was, stood in the doorway. From the light cast by his old-fashioned lantern they saw he was slender and taller than average – about six foot two. He wore elaborately embroidered yellow silk robes that billowed in the wind and a yellow silk mask covered his face. Both Abe and Julia took a step back. It was his eyes – darker than the voids between the stars, darker than the lightless depths of the deepest oceans. Dark, empty yet filled with unfathomable knowledge.

If there was anywhere else, they'd flee.

The man stepped back from the door and beckoned for them to enter. Abe glanced at the exhausted, worn out woman by his side. She couldn't go much further – to be honest, he wasn't sure how far he could walk neither as his calf and thigh muscles ached and trembled with the unaccustomed exercise. They'd walked miles down that staircase and then miles more crossing this desolate plateau.

He made his decision and they crossed the threshold. As soon as they were inside, the man closed the door and bolted it. Immediately, the wind's moans and howls subsided to a dull groan. To Abe's ears, it sounded like a soul in torment.

"Take no notice of anything you might hear. Welcome," the man said. He spoke precise English but with an accent that reminded Abe of the waiters at Leng's. The man raised his hand, which had unusually long fingers with sharp nails, and unhooked his mask. Abe expected the man's face to be hideously deformed, monstrous; an alien fright straight from a Hollywood horror movie. Instead, the man was handsome in a dark, saturnine way. He reminded Abe of an Egyptian Pharaoh but a narrow, pointed beard, hooked nose and hooded eyes gave him a sinister aspect.

"Come this way," the man said. Raising his lantern, the man started off down a corridor.

Julia raised her head. Now she was inside, she seemed to have revived a little. "What is this place?" she wondered.

The man turned back to face them. A smile played on his face. "A monastery. I am the High Priest."

Abe wondered what god was worshiped here. It certainly wasn't the one he'd been taught about at the synagogue. Not that he was a regular attender – Bar Mitzvahs, weddings, funerals and other celebrations only. And that was more to keep his family happy than any other reason. Privately, he was an agnostic at best but if they got out of this alive then he'd be making a big donation to the synagogue as soon as he got home.

Following the priest, they saw horrible carvings on the walls. Offensive, hideous depictions of strange, outre scenes. A huge winged octopoid rising from the sea and an image of a galley filled with toad-monsters rising towards a gibbous moon clutched at his heart. The flickering lamplight made the scenes look almost alive as it jumped from plaque to plaque, picking out shadows while highlighting things Abe would rather weren't lit. Instinctively, he held Julia's head close to his shoulder, protecting her sight from these appalling scenes. More angular runic writing filled the space between the images. He was glad he couldn't read that language.

The carvings seemed incredibly ancient as if they were far, far older than even the Lascaux cave paintings. The priest's lantern only illuminated each scene for a second or two as he passed but that was enough to fill Abe's mind with horror.

They turned down another corridor and still another. In case they needed to escape, Abe tried to keep track of their passage but it was impossible. The inside of the monastery was a maze. Once it must have been filled with acolytes and adepts but now it seemed to be deserted except by this strange high priest. Their footfalls echoed as they walked, the sound dying away, swallowed up by the immensity of the monastery.

They passed many empty chambers and rooms, the priest's lamplight illuminating only the doorways. From more than one of the rooms, Abe heard a heavy thump and once the sound of something being dragged. Unless his imagination tricked him. He'd been through too much this night – it was no wonder his sanity was tottering.

"How many other monks are there?" Abe asked. He dreaded the answer. Either would be bad.

The high priest turned back and faced them. His dark face grinned in a shark-like expression. Were his teeth really that sharp? "There is only myself," he told them.

Abe doubted that. But he didn't say anything. With a rustle of his yellow silk robes, the priest turned away and led them down still more corridors, narrower now. By now Abe was totally disoriented – lost in space and time. Eventually, the priest stopped before a worm-eaten door. Taking a key from out of his robe, he unlocked the door and pushed it open. Stepping into the room, he lit a second lantern and, as the flame flickered high, Abe saw it was a bedroom.

In keeping with the great age of the monastery, the room looked like something out of a museum. Dark panels covered the walls and a huge four-poster bed filled the room. It looked like something the Tudor monarch Henry VIII would have slept in with one of his six wives. An equally ancient armoire and chest stood against one wall.

"I hope you have a good night's rest. You look like you need it," the priest said. He bowed and shut the door behind him.

Abe turned to watch him go. It must have been a trick of the light but for an instant, the high priest's eyes looked hyena-like, glowing yellow and predatory. And the shadow cast by the man's lantern – if man he was – was wrong. It seemed more hunched over, slumped and vile. Abe shuddered and turned his gaze away.

Holding Julia close, Abe helped her over to the bed where she sat down. She put her head in her hands and then the tears flowed. "I want to go home," she sobbed. "We should never have gone out."

Abe put his arms around her, drawing her close. "This priest seems friendly. I'm sure he'll help us tomorrow." Looking around, he saw a basin and ewer on the chest together with a carafe and glasses. They drank, the water refreshing them and giving new hope. The ewer was filled with water so he poured some out into the basin and washed Julia's poor, bloodied feet. The water turned a dirty pink as he cleaned off the grime and blood.

Julia looked down wearily. "Thank you," she whispered as he toweled her dry.

Turning down the covers, Abe helped Julia shrug off his jacket and put her to bed. She curled up like a baby, her dark hair covering the pillow. Abe kissed her on the cheek and then kicked off his loafers and got in beside her. Neither of them wanted to blow out the lantern – neither fancied lying there in pitch darkness. Not in this haunted place.

Totally exhausted, Julia soon slid into sleep but Abe lay there listening to his love's steady breathing. But, despite his own tiredness, sleep evaded him. He was listening out for danger, his sixth sense on high alert. What was this place? Who was that strange priest – and what god did he serve? More importantly, where were they? Unless this was some massive hallucination – and he'd never taken acid in his life, not even at university – then they weren't in Ohio, or America or even the Earth.

He wondered if they were even in the same universe or else in some alternate dimension. One of those strange dimensions darkly suggested at by some professors at Miskatonic. That was one scary thought. Still, they were alive. And if they'd got here, then there must be some way of getting home. Maybe the priest would be able to suggest something.

He lay still, trying to relax. What was that? Outside the room he heard a shuffling, slithering noise. It sounded like something – or several somethings – trying to keep quiet. The idea of 'things' – and his mind jumped to that toad-monster from earlier – lurking outside terrified him. However, the sounds passed by and died away. As soon as silence returned, Abe swung out of bed. Noiselessly, on bare feet, Abe crossed to the chest. It was heavy, black with age and carved with strange, unsettling images. Grunting with effort, Abe pushed the chest against the door. It scraped over the stone flagged floor setting his teeth on edge.

"What are you doing?" Julia asked. Her voice thick with sleep. She propped herself up on one shoulder. Her dark hair tumbled down around her face and neck and the shoulder strap of her little black dress slipped down. She looked so beautiful yet so vulnerable at the same time.

"Just a little reassurance, that's all."

"That's better. I hope that man knows a way we can get home," she said with a yawn.

Abe nodded. "Things will seem better in the morning. After breakfast. You'll see." Somehow he doubted that. This ancient monastery had a bad vibe to it. All the same, what choice did they have? He didn't want to set out on foot across this vast plain seeking one of those distant villages. They were both in the last stages of exhaustion and needed a night's rest. With that thought, he got back into bed and snuggled up next to Julia.

He was more than half asleep when a thud from outside snapped him awake. The thump sounded again. No doubt about it, somebody – or something – was pushing on the door. The door gave an inch or so and the chest slid back across the stone flags. Another dull thud and the chest moved back another few inches. A hand edged around the door jamb.

With a shout of mixed anger and fear, Abe leaped out of bed. Running to the chest, Abe slammed it back against the door, trapping the hand. There was a yell of anguish as all the bones in the hand shattered. Looking back, he saw Julia also swing out of bed.

"What's going on?" she asked, blinking her eyes.

"There's people outside. See if you can find another way out."

Julia came to full wakefulness. She crossed to the paneling and began searching for a hidden door. It sounded like more and more people were gathering outside. The pressure on the other side of the door became more intense. Despite his best efforts, the door started sliding open again, pushing both him and the chest back across the stone floor. His feet scrabbling over the rough flags, he strained every muscle trying to gain some purchase to push the chest back.

"Hurry," he called back to Julia.

"I'm looking," she called back, her hands casting about over the paneling looking for a hidden exit. She couldn't find one. They were caught like rats in a trap. With a sudden heave, the door was flung open sending Abe sprawling over the floor. Immediately, men poured into the room. Except, on a second look, they weren't much like men. It was obvious that they were of the same race as the waiters in the diner.

They were all naked, their brownish bodies strange and hideous, and now Abe and Julia saw that their turbans had been molded around little, satyr-like horns. Their mouths were too wide and many were opened in shouts of rage. Their legs and torsos were covered in thick, coarse hair, almost like fur, giving them a more goatish than human look. A few even had short tails.

The men fell on Julia and Abe, their hands seizing them, pinning them to the floor. Julia screamed, a shriek of utter terror and desolation. Abe shouted and struggled but there was nothing he could do. There were simply too many of these goat-like men. Raising a foot, he kicked one full in the face, sending the man flying backwards but immediately, his leg was grasped by two more and pinioned to the floor. Turning his head, he saw Julia covered by these strange men.

Then the horror increased. Still holding them immobile, others of the men tore off their clothes. Abe shivered as his shirt was ripped off, his skin forming goose-bumps against the cold stone floor. His trousers were torn off and then his jockey shorts leaving him naked and exposed. Some of the men snickered as they looked at his body.

But worse, far worse, was Julia's screams as she was stripped naked. Denuded, her modesty was exposed to their jeers and she felt intense humiliation. Abe wanted to defend his love but there was nothing he could do to help her. She cried out, her screams drowning out the men's laughter as, like many young women, Julia shaved her body and the goatish men were laughing at her nude hairlessness. A few of the more priapic satyrs pointed at themselves and made it obvious what they wanted to do.

Abe yelled and shouted threats and obscenities but he was helpless. There was nothing he could do to help his love. Then Abe felt himself rolled over onto his front and his hands were wrenched behind his back and tied together. The rope bit into his skin as they tied it tight. Then the men hauled him to his feet. Others shoved Julia next to him. Like Abe, she had been bound. She seemed unharmed but looked very scared.

"Walk," one of the men commanded. They set off down the corridor. Some of the men started playing flutes or piccolos while others banged tambourines or small cymbals. The rest danced to the music. The tune was discordant, unmelodious and lacking in harmony and grated on their nerves. The music hinted at having come from out of far distant gulfs in time and space where the normal rules of tonality did not apply.

Then Julia screamed, her cry of horror drowning out the music. Stepping out of a door came two of those foul toad-monsters. Both stretched out their freakish, pink tentacles towards the two captives. One hopped closer on its short, webbed legs and then those loathsome, damp feelers touched Abe's bare shoulder, arm and chest. They slid wetly, leaving slime trails over his shrinking skin. He couldn't help himself – their revolting texture sickened him to his soul. He screamed and vomited up the last of yesterday's meal.

The strange, goat-like men capered and laughed at Abe's reaction. The musicians started up their hellish piping and clanging and then one of the men shoved Abe and Julia forward and the procession started off again with the two toad-monsters leading the way.

With their hands tied and surrounded by men and monsters, there was no chance of escape. They stumbled forward, down one corridor after another. Glancing frantically from side to side he still noticed that the walls were carved with frightening frescoes depicting this place's spine-chilling history. He hoped that Julia hadn't seen them. A gap in the crowd opened and Abe sidestepped so that he was walking shoulder to shoulder with his love.

Maybe it was fear, perhaps the hellish music playing with his mind, but to Abe it seemed as if the monastery itself was alive in some weird way. The walls seemed to expand and contract as if breathing, and the angles were all distorted and out of alignment yet subtly changing all the time. He noticed that the creatures were careful not to touch the stone walls.

Turning an acute corner, this last corridor ended in a pair of bronze-faced double doors. Hopping forwards, the two toad-monsters chanted a few inhuman syllables and pushed the doors open, bowing deeply as the procession passed by entering through the portal.

And then things got worse. Much worse.


	5. Chapter 5 The Yellow High Priest

CHAPTER 5: THE YELLOW HIGH PRIEST

Looking up, Abe saw they had entered a massive domed chamber. He guessed it was in the very center of this rambling building. Incense burned in suspended censers, masking an underlying stench of rotting meat and even worse smells. His eyes were drawn irresistibly to the middle of the room. On a stone dais the high priest sat on a golden throne. The metal glowed yellow and evilly in the dim, smoky light. The priest wore his yellow silk robes and was masked, only his dark eyes showing above, while his arms rested on the throne with a scepter across in his lap.

Abe couldn't look at that figure any more. Dropping his eyes he saw six blood-stained stone altars, five steps down from the terrible golden throne, surrounding a gaping hole. The worst of the noxious fumes seemed to emanate from this hole. The altars seemed incredibly old – older even than this prehistoric monastery.

They were each made of different stone – the closest was a shiny black onyx, its carvings eroded until they were almost totally obliterated. Another was a red-brown jasper that looked horribly similar to the color of congealed venous blood. A third was white marble, veined with red in a horrible parody of pale flesh. For a moment, to Abe's eyes, it looked like that altar was expanding and contracting as if it was alive and breathing. He looked away, doubting his own sanity.

The high priest stood, his robes billowing about him. He raised the hand holding the scepter. Immediately, the raucous piping fell silent. He beckoned towards the two humans. Involuntarily, they stepped forward towards him.

"The sacrifices come. I call to thee, my blind father Azathoth, to witness this offering, as they offer up their very essences to you."

From his robes, he drew a knife. It glittered wickedly, its edge catching the dim light and reflecting it in eye-catching splinters. The blade seemed crystalline and Abe wondered if it was made of solid diamond. That seemed impossible yet Abe remembered reading about scientists discovering a planet made of diamond orbiting another star in the Milky Way. There are many strange things in the universe – and he somehow doubted that they were still in the same universe as America.

Julia had gone beyond fear and panic. She stood calm and still – almost comatose – as if she knew the very end had come. The end of all things and not just her existence.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

The high priest raised both arms high. For a moment, it seemed to Abe that they stretched all the way up to the top of the dome. But that's impossible, he told himself. Shrinking back to normal size, the high priest took a step down towards them. As if on cue, the hellish congregation of goatish part-men and toad-monsters fell silent. Abe realized suddenly that those monsters were as frightened of the high priest as they were.

"Who am I?" the yellow-clad priest asked. He raised one arm and unhooked his mask. Abe dreaded what would be revealed. However, he was relieved to see it was the lean, swarthy face of the Pharaoh. The man looked down at them from beneath his hooded eyes. He smiled but it was a cruel smile with no humanity in it, one that chilled Abe's blood.

Then, without even a flicker, the Pharaoh was replaced by one of the pallid gray toad-monsters instead. It's tentacles twitched and squirmed as it sniffed the air before them, scenting their fear and terror. It hopped down one of the steps before them. Both Abe and Julia shrank away from the sight.

"Behold how I appear to the moon-beasts," the priest intoned.

After a few seconds, that hideous apparition turned into that of a giant black man – but not any man of African origin. His – or its – skin was jet-black and its eyes glowed red with molten fire. Its feet were cloven, like the Devil's. It grinned a predator's smile revealing a mouth full of razor-sharp canines. The grin spread until Abe thought the top of the man's head would come off. That was a maw designed solely to rend and tear flesh. A forked serpent's tongue flickered in and out, tasting the air. There was a whiff of sulfur in the air.

"Who am I?" the demon asked again. "My names are Legion. I am Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. Azathoth, the Demon-Sultan who dwells mindlessly at the center of all the universes is my father, and it is to him that I will send you."

And then, for a second, he revealed his true form. Abe and Julia screamed senselessly, their minds blasted by the awful sight. Even the strange men and toad-monster moon-beasts cried out with fear and awe and backed away. Before their minds could be permanently destroyed by the vision, the High-Priest resumed his Pharaoh aspect.

"I do not want to drive you insane," he said in a voice which was almost kind. "I shall save that for when you meet my father. Then he will devour your shrieking, witless, senseless bodies and souls."

Julia had fallen to her knees, her dark hair masking her face from the abomination before her, and was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. She repeated the words, "No, no, no," continuously. Abe crouched by her side, threw his arm around her shoulders and tried to offer what little comfort he could.

Turning to one of the moon-beasts, the High-Priest, Nyarlathotep, asked if they had brought the silver key. The monster's tentacles twitched and lowered themselves to a pouch around its neck. Abe wasn't about to find out what this silver key was. He knew it meant nothing good and he had no wish to meet this Azathoth at the center of the universes, who was probably far worse than his shape-shifting son, Nyarlathotep.

The crowd of satyr-like men were watching as something glowing white-hot was drawn from the moon-beast's pouch. Unnoticed by the assembly, Abe stood, drawing Julia with him. He wasn't going to be a passive sacrifice, no way, but naked and with his wrists tied before him, he couldn't fight his way out neither. He wasn't the action hero of the latest Hollywood blockbuster, nor was he a Navy SEAL or ex-marine. Maybe those guys could fight – although he doubted any human could tackle this Nyarlathotep – but he still had one option left. He decided to take it.

"I love you," he murmured to Julia. "Remember that – I love you." Drawing Julia with him, he took one small step towards that gaping hole, then another. A third and then Nyarlathotep turned his attention towards them.

Divining their intention, the High-Priest yelled, "Stop them!"

Immediately, the closest goat-men ran towards them and the nearest moon-beast also hopped their way, its feelers straining towards them. One of the strange men got between them and the hole but Abe, recalling a football trick he'd learned at high school, shoulder-charged him out of the way, sending him crashing into two of his fellows. Another tried to grasp Abe's waist but he dodged out of the way.

Now they stood on the very lip of the pit. It led straight down, cut through the living rock. After a few yards, the dim light failed and the hole became a dead black with no bottom in sight.

"Geronimo," Abe screamed to give himself courage to face what he was about to do. He'd always been taught that self-destruction was a sin but sometimes there are worse things than death. Much worse things. All the same, it went against every human instinct to deliberately kill himself and his love.

Even then, he might have paused but then one of the men of Leng tackled him. But instead of pulling them back from the brink, the crashing impact sent the three of them toppling over the edge and into the hellish pit. The last thing Abe heard was the High-Priest screaming with thwarted rage.

Down they fell, lost to light, falling down into the bowels of the earth. The rushing fall snatched Julia's hand from Abe's grasp and they fell down and down separately. Abe wondered when their bodies would hit the bottom far below – an impact which would shatter all their bones, turning flesh into jelly. He tried to turn his mind away from their end – but even that smashing impact would be preferable to the High-Priest's sacrifice. At least their souls would be their own.

Still they fell. He called out to Julia but the roaring wind in their ears meant his shout wasn't heard. Nor did he hear her if she ever called to him. Down they plummeted. Abe knew they must have long since reached terminal velocity – that speed that cannot be exceeded no matter how far you fall. He remembered that fact from high school; strange what your mind comes up with when you're facing imminent death, he thought. All the same, he couldn't remember what the speed of terminal velocity was. He wished he knew.

Another thought. It's true – you whole life flashes before you when you die. He recalled that class in high school. He sat next to a girl called Jenny. She was a lovely girl and they'd dated that last term of high school. He'd taken her to the prom and Jenny had looked so pretty in a violet gown that showed her arms and decolletage to perfection. Yet, their lives had drifted apart after he'd gone to Massachusetts to study law at Miskatonic. He wondered what she was doing now. Probably safely married with kids.

After university, he'd been offered a place in New York but it hadn't worked out. He didn't cope well with stress and was popping painkillers and headache pills more than he should. That November, he caught flu – not his fault, not with the way people were crammed together on the metro – but it had taken too long to shake off and weakness wasn't tolerated at that pressure cooker firm. He didn't fancy grinding away many more years slaving as an overworked associate so he'd cast about and returned to Ohio. There he'd met Julia at a medico-legal conference so things had worked out for the best in the end.

Until now.

And still they plunged downwards. How far had they fallen? He had no idea. He had no watch and even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to see it in this inky darkness. It must be miles though. They'd walked miles down on that seemingly endless staircase earlier but this fall must have taken them further than that.

Scenes from his early life flickered through his mind. Grade school and that fight with Josh Price – and the bloody nose he'd taken. His Bar Mitzvah when old Uncle Abe gave a very generous present of money at the celebratory Seudat Mitzvah meal afterwards. He'd been named after old Uncle (technically great uncle) Abe in the hopes that the old man would look after him. And he had. Old Abe had paid off most of his tuition fees at university. But not all of them – "A young man has to struggle a bit, eh?" – the old man had said, his white beard waggling as he spoke.

What was that? A dim, dark gray circle beneath them. Small at first but rapidly getting larger. He couldn't make out any more. Then, suddenly they hurtled out of a huge hole in what appeared to be the roof of a massive, dimly lit cavern.

Abe braced himself for when he hit the floor. One smashing impact that would shatter every bone in his body rupturing every internal organ. One huge, painful crash and then it would all be over. The end. The end of everything – all life, all thought, his very existence. He wished he'd been able to keep hold of Julia, letting them die in each others arms. Instinctively, he closed his eyes.

Yet suddenly, Abe cried out as his arms were grasped by sharp claws and he felt himself swoop upwards through the air. Opening his eyes and craning his neck, he made out a vaguely winged human shape with a pair of inward turning horns on its head. The thing was totally night-black with skin slick as oilcloth. Its wings were dark against the leaden gloom of the immense cavern it flew through. A small flock of these black fliers flew nearby.

From the one carrying him came a smell of ancient, bitter spices that reminded Abe of a funeral parlor. Despite his predicament, Abe struggled as it had no face and he just knew this demonic looking beast was evil. Where was it taking him? Nowhere he wanted to go, that was for sure.

Then the creature's barbed tail curled around its body as it flew lower, heading towards the ground. Using its tail it caressed Abe's body, the hellish vibrations tickling him into submission. Abe would do anything to stop that foul sensation – even at the risk of being dropped and plummeting hundreds of feet onto the rocky ground below – but he was held helpless. Still tickling, the strange being dropped lower, hovered for a moment, and then opened its claws. Through it all, the creature it had been hellishly silent but with his sudden shriek breaking the quiet, Abe fell.

The impact wasn't what he expected. He landed on a sliding, shifting, treacherous surface, hard and spiky, like loosely packed boulders – no make that branches, he thought. His body tumbled downhill, rolling over and over. Automatically, he covered his face with his bound arms. The spiky branches scratched and tore at his naked flesh as he rolled downhill until he gradually slowed to a halt. One deep scratch on the back of his thighs made him cry out with pain and another 'boulder' bashed the back of his skull making him see stars.

Gasping for breath, panting, terrified yet amazed he was still drawing breath, Abe drew himself to his feet. He toppled over on the uneven surface and fell again. With his wrists still bound, he was unable to save himself and fell again, sliding still further down the slope. Coughing from dust raised by his tumbling fall, he carefully stood again. Blinking, he opened his eyes.

Even after what he had been through, Abe was amazed at what he saw. He was standing on a mountain of bones – literally a mountain – within a huge cavern. Very dim, gray, phosphorescent light gave just enough illumination to see by. The uneven roof of the cavern must be at least a mile above his head and he could just make out a black circle – the hole they must have fallen through.

Looking down, he saw that the bones were all varied. Rib cages, spines or just single vertebrae, long thigh bones. Stooping, he lifted up a skull. With a shudder of distaste, he flung it away and it rolled downhill until it fetched up against a giant rib. It looked up at him, seeming to grin at him. That skull belonged to no wholesome being – it looked like a nightmarish cross between a human and a giant rat but with the heavy, fanged jaw of a hyena.

"Wouldn't want to meet that on a dark night," he muttered.

Then a thought struck him like a lightning bolt. If he'd miraculously survived that fall, then what about...

"Julia," he shouted. "Julia!"


	6. Chapter 6 The Vaults of Zin

CHAPTER 6: THE VAULTS OF ZIN

A groan answered him, coming from behind the taloned forelimb of a dinosaur or dragon. Carefully, testing his footing with every step, he made his way back uphill. "Julia," he called again. His love looked stunned and a cut on her forehead was bleeding heavily. She had another deep slash across her left breast and was covered with dust and grime. Blood from both cuts reddened her chest and belly. He supposed he looked no better.

Climbing over the forelimb, he helped her sit up. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Julia blinked her eyes open and nodded. "Sure. Hurts like hell, though. You?" she said through cracked lips. They held each other, enjoying each other's closeness. Then, with difficulty as his own wrists were tightly bound, Abe started trying to unpick the rope around Julia's.

A rattle of bones startled them both. Looking up, they saw the strange beast-man approach them. The man looked far more scared than they were. He appeared to be in the last extremity of anxiety and panic, wild eyes staring in every direction. Of course, Abe realized, falling that extreme distance would unnerve anyone, but this man was far beyond that level of fear. There was no point trying to hide from him – but Abe realized that they had nothing to fear from this man, at least for the time being.

"What's the matter? What is this place?" asked Abe.

"You do not know?" the man said. His accent was unplaceable, not even like the waiters of earlier.

"Of course not. I've never been here before. And I thought the Big Apple was strange, but it has nothing on this," said Abe.

Shuddering, the man replied, "This is the Vaults of Zin. Deep in the underworld, beneath Dreamlands."

That made little sense to Abe but he picked up on the underworld. That figured. "How do we get out? Do you know a way?" he asked.

"I have heard of one way," said the man, after pausing for thought. "It is rumored that black stairways guarded by winged lions lead from the lower gulfs of the underworld up to the deserted city of Sarkomand."

"You mean Samarkand, don't you?" said Julia. "In Uzbekistan or somewhere?" Even Uzbekistan would be infinitely better than here. There must be an American consulate or something there. He could help them get back to the States.

"No," said the satyr-man. "I have never heard of your Samarkand. The ruined city of Sarkomand was our capital in ages past before we were conquered by the moon-beasts. It is said, though I have never been there, that there is a trapdoor beneath which a spiral staircase leads down to the underworld."

"So if we can find this spiral staircase, then we have a chance of getting out," said Abe, trying to put a positive spin on things. Not that he underestimated how bad their situation was. Thirst tortured him and they were naked and defenseless.

"I do not know where this staircase is. And nobody escapes from the Vaults of Zin," said the man.

"Nothing like giving up, is there. If we don't look we'll never find it."

"And how do you know nobody's ever escaped?" Julia added.

Abe loved her for that comment. Now she'd survived and her spirits were rising, she was an all-American go-getter, that was for sure. All the same, Abe didn't give them a snowball's chance in Hell. This cavern looked massive – many miles across at least – and who knows what loathsome beasts live down here?

The strange little goatish man looked even more downcast. In a voice so quiet they had to strain their ears to hear him, he said, "We may have to get past the giant purple spiders of Atlach-Nacha. It is said their webs stretch from one side of their vale to the other."

Julia gave a little scream. She hated spiders with a passion and Abe guessed these purple spiders would be far, far worse than the hairy monsters he sometimes had to deal with when they got trapped in their bathtub. He used to cover them with a glass, slide a piece of card underneath and then carry them out into their yard before letting them go.

Mustering up his courage, Abe said, "We'll deal with them if we have to. But hopefully we'll find a way round them."

They got the strange goatish man to untie their hands. Rubbing their wrists to restore circulation, they looked around the sombre scene. Bones stretched both up and downhill as far as the eye could see in the dim, grayish light. There must be millions, maybe billions of skeletons here. He wondered how long this incredible ossuary had taken to form.

"What is this place? Do you know?" Abe asked the man.

"This is part of the Cemetery of the Gugs," the man replied. He looked disheartened and depressed as if he'd already given up the ghost.

"Well, if they've eaten all these bodies, we don't want to meet a Gug," said Julia. "We should move on before one comes along."

Carefully, not wanting to start an avalanche of bones, Abe led the way downhill. He picked a direction almost at random, although the slope looked easier and less steep here. Julia followed, wincing with every step, the beast-man trailing in the rear. It was hard going as the bones were loosely packed and they tripped and fell several times picking up more cuts and bruises.

A rattle of bones over to the right caught their attention. Another rattle and they heard a cascade of dislodged bones. Abe lifted up a sturdy looking femur and held it like a baseball bat. Julia stood next to him, her eyes straining to pierce the gloom.

Then the strangest creature hopped out from behind a ridge of rib cages. If the toad-like moon-beasts were bad, this was worse. Julia shrieked and Abe cried out with shock and disgust. It was the size of a pony with strange, kangaroo-like legs ending in a pair of sharp hoofs. Its thick, gray rhino-like hide was rough and knotted and looked like it provided good protection. But the thing that made both Julia and Abe cry out was the monster's foul face. Despite having neither a nose or forehead it was curiously and hideously human.

"A ghast," the satyr-like man called out. Turning he fled in the opposite direction. He tripped, stretching his length, picked himself up and fled into the twilight. A second ghast jumped up out the gloom and landed on the man. Instantly, it tore into the man with its hoofs and muzzle, ripping and rending flesh eager to reach the soft organs inside. Other ghasts emerged from the gloom, joining the horrible feast. The man screamed once, the echoes reverberating and then collapsed. He wasn't quite dead when the ghasts began to feed.

Abe took Julia's head in his arms. He looked away as well as the sounds of feasting carried over to them. More ghasts approached and formed a rough circle around them – fifteen or twenty of the terrible, repulsive beasts.

They couldn't outrun the long-legged ghasts, there was nowhere to hide, and fighting would be useless. All they could do was die together and hope their end would be quick. Abe threw away the thigh bone and hugged Julia close. He felt her warm body pressed against his.

"I love you," he murmured into Julia's ear. He wanted them to be the last words she heard. "I love you so much." He kissed her on her lips. Her mouth opened and he pushed his tongue inside. All around he heard the rattle of bones as the ghasts hopped closer. His body shrunk and goose bumps formed as he waited for the beasts' claws to rip into their agonized bodies, destroying them both.

Another sound came to Abe's ears. Distant at first, then rapidly coming closer. A sound as of many beings rushing through the air. A miaow... a miaow? What was going on now? Cautiously, he opened one eye. The ghasts had edged closer. But up above, hurtling down out of the twilight dimness, rushed a torrent of cats. Hundreds... no, thousands of cats all with legs outstretched and claws extended. Black and white moggies, household tabbies, battle-scarred mousers, pedigree Siamese, ginger toms all streaming down towards them. The cats all opened their mouths and a hideous caterwauling filled the air.

The ghasts looked up and saw doom swooping down towards them. As one, they turned on their kangaroo-like legs and bounded away, leaping over piles of bones. But it was too late. The cats fell on the ghasts, hundreds of felines tackling each monster. There was an ear-splitting caterwauling as the cats' claws scratched and slashed and cut through even the ghasts thick hide, drowning out the ghasts' yells of fear and pain.

One ghast fell, rolling downhill. Abe couldn't see its body as it was covered with aggressive felines. Another jumped into its fellow and, stunned, it was pounced on and seized by still more cats. Now none of the terrible ghasts were free of savage cats.

Julia looked around her. She seemed as confused as Abe himself.

"I don't understand," she whispered. "Where have they come from?"

Abe shook his head. He had no idea. Now he saw more cats forming a protective circle around them while the rest dealt with the ghasts. The ghasts bellowed and howled, surprisingly human sounds but gradually those horrifying sounds ceased. One cat sat right by their feet. A small black and white cat with a distinctive bib on her throat.

"Oreo? Is that you? What's happening; how did you get here?"

The cat looked up at him. Abe felt the cat's voice in his mind. It was surprisingly kind. "You took me in from the sanctuary when I was an abandoned, hungry kitten and have always been good to me. This night, I begged a favor from the Queen of Cats and she agreed to rescue you."

"Now I know where you go at night," Abe joked, relief flooding through his body. "Out of this world and into nightmares." He laughed, jaggedly, his nerves ragged.

A regal looking Persian, her thick tail high in the air, approached. Power and control flowed from the cat's body. Every fiber of her being spoke of authority. She was followed by a bodyguard of a dozen battle-scarred wild-cats. Instinctively, both Abe and Julia bowed.

"I hope you humans appreciate what the cat you know as Oreo has done for you this night," the Queen purred. "She has sacrificed three of her nine lives to Nodens, Lord of the Abyss, to allow the army of cats to come to your aid in these underworld catacombs. When you reach home, look after her very well."

"We will, your majesty," both Abe and Julia said in unison. "We can never thank Oreo, and all the other cats, for saving us."

The Queen looked at them. "Be sure that you do, humans. However, we have to leave now. There are far worse things than ghasts in the underworld. Denizens even our powers are useless against."

That suited them fine. They'd had more than enough of this weird place beneath the earth – especially as it wasn't their own earth but some other underworld in some alien dimension.

"But how will we leave?" Julia plucked up courage to ask the Queen.

She looked at them with those unfathomable feline eyes. Eyes that had known a time when the ancient Egyptians had treated cats as gods. "Let our magic flow through you and cling on."

She recited some words in a language old when the pyramids were newly built. It sounded odd, lacking certain syllables. Other cats nearby listened and then joined in the catechism, repeating her catalectic words. As more and more cats added their voices, Abe and Julia felt some kind of raw power surge through them, catalyzing every cell in their bodies.

Abe and Julia looked at each other. What was this imperious cat doing? What magic did she mean? They found out a few minutes later. At first singly, then a few at a time, then by multitudes, the cats catapulted themselves into the air. They didn't come back to earth but carried on into the twilight gloom of the Vaults of Zin until they became black dots and then vanished from view.

"You should come now," Oreo told them as she too prepared to spring.

"But how?" Julia asked.

"I have temporarily given you our power. Let the magic flow through you and jump as high as you can," the Queen said.

Feeling slightly foolish but realizing they had no choice, Abe and Julia held hands and jumped into the air in the midst of a group of cats, Oreo among them. As soon as they leaped, they felt a swooping, airy sensation rush through them. Putting a hand on Oreo's warm back they flew upwards, ever upwards, the bone yard of the Gugs' cemetery falling away beneath them.

Picking up speed, they rushed through the cavern, part of a mighty cataract of cats. Each one like a drop of water making up the torrent's whole. Onwards and upwards until Abe thought they would crash into the rocky roof. He closed his eyes, anticipating the hurt yet the cats shimmered and flowed through the rock as if it was no more solid than clouds.

Then, like lava, they erupted out of the clouds into clean, cold air. Not the dead chill of the Plateau of Leng but fresh air, although slightly tainted by industrial pollution, of modern America.

They had survived the nightmare. They were home.


	7. Chapter 7 Back to Toledo, Ohio

CHAPTER 7: BACK IN TOLEDO, OHIO

Relief flooded through them as Abe and Julia recognized the familiar layout of their part of Ohio far below. To the left of them was the vast expanse of Lake Huron itself. To their right, Lake Erie pointing away to the east with Detroit's city lights between the two watery expanses. The cats swooped lower and there was Toledo, Ohio coming into view.

Still lower and landmarks appeared to their view. The ribbon of lights which was I-75 following Lake Erie's shoreline. The huge glass and steel of One Seagate, Toledo's tallest building. The Speedway racetrack. Then their own suburb of Perrysburg loomed up. In the distance, they heard an ambulance siren as it raced to an emergency. Now, their own tree-lined Glenwood Avenue with the brick-built middle school on the corner. They skimmed the treetops and then landed right in front of their own home.

Only a few cats landed with them. The long-haired Queen herself stood haughty and proud in front of them surrounded by her wild-cats. Perhaps scenting the cats' aroma, next door neighbor's Labrador, Woody, started barking wildly.

"Thank you, your majesty. Thank you for saving us," Abe said. He bowed low. Julia also bowed.

"We did this at Oreo's request. You owe her a great obligation. One day, we will collect that debt. Be ready."

"Yes, your majesty," they both said, although they had no idea what she meant.

Turning to Oreo, the Queen said, "You know what you must do? It is for their own good."

"Yes, your majesty," the little black and white cat said, dipping her head.

A chill, early morning breeze blew in from the lakes. Abe and Julia shivered and realized that they were standing naked on their own front yard. It would only take one insomniac neighbor to peek out the curtains and tongues would wag. A car crossed the road a couple of junctions away. It was lucky the driver didn't turn his head.

"Go indoors now. Good-bye," the Persian Queen said, springing up into the air without waiting for their thanks. Over to the east, above Lake Erie, the night sky started to turn dark gray – the pre-dawn of another day.

Hurrying around to the back, Abe lifted up a plant pot and picked up their spare key. He unlocked the kitchen door and let them all in. It felt so good to be safe at home, surrounded by their friendly, familiar possessions. The reassuring tick of Julia's mother's antique clock brought it home to him. Their living nightmare was finally over.

Julia yawned. "I can't stay on my feet – let's go to bed. Don't worry about the dirt – I'll put the sheets in the laundry tomorrow."

That sounded like a good idea. He put his arm around Julia's shoulders to comfort her, realizing she must be shocked as she was usually so houseproud. Abe was exhausted as well, every cell in his body crying out for sleep. All the same, those hellish images from the restaurant, the monastery and those terrifying Vaults of Zin haunted his mind. He followed Julia's naked bottom as she climbed the stairs and crawled into bed next to her. They cuddled for a while but then Julia rolled over, turning her back on him. Soon after, Abe heard her breathing become deeper and more regular. He lay there, tired but too keyed up to sleep. Women are mentally tougher than men he thought. Eventually though, he too drifted into slumber.

Slipping through the half-open door, Oreo entered the bedroom and jumped up onto the duvet. Delicately, she tiptoed over to where the humans lay. Although they seemed fine at the moment, the little cat knew that over the next few nights, nightmares would destroy their sleep and eventually their sanity. No human could mentally cope with what they had experienced.

However, the Queen had shown the little cat what to do. She crossed over to the humans' faces and exhaled, mixing her breath with theirs. The humans shifted uneasily as they slid deeper into sleep, becoming soporific. Mixing the Queen's magic with her exhalations, she sent them into a state resembling catatonia. There they slept the clock round, their minds resting under the cat's cathartic healing magic.

It was evening of the following day when they woke. Abe yawned and stretched, hazy and feeling blurred and confused and wondering why it was so dark outside. However, that was low priority at the moment. The most important thing was to use the bathroom otherwise he'd simply burst. He swung his legs out of bed and crossed to their en-suite. Half way across their bedroom, he realized his body was aching as if he'd gone twelve rounds with a particularly angry heavyweight.

Looking down, he saw his chest and legs were covered in cuts and bruises. What had happened last night? Had they been in a car crash or been mugged? He couldn't remember much about last night – which, for a lawyer who relied on his memory for his livelihood, was a problem. What had happened last night? He remembered taking Julia to a restaurant. What was it called? It definitely wasn't the 'Golden Palace', it was somewhere else... Leung's? No, that wasn't it. Lungs? No, nobody would call their diner 'Lungs'.

He must have put away a few bottles of wine – but he didn't feel hungover. He used the bathroom and then stepped under the shower, turning the water to as hot as he could stand. And how had he gotten so dirty? Casting his mind back, he was shocked that he couldn't remember anything since driving down I-75 to the restaurant. Nothing at all. Wait – there was something about a foreign guy in a yellow suit – did he run a motel? And cats. Was that where they'd stayed? A motel next to a cattery?

Throwing his robe about himself, he walked over to the kitchen and filled the percolator. He put some cookies on a tray and brought them and the coffee over to Julia. Maybe her memory was in a better state. He sure hoped so.

It wasn't. Like himself, Julia's recollection of the night was foggy at best. "I wonder if we went on somewhere after? Probably somebody spiked our drinks," she said.

That sounded reasonable. Nodding, Abe agreed. Somebody jealous of their success or wanting to rob them must have slipped something into their drinks. It happens. And that would explain why he couldn't find his clothes or wallet. But that explanation also didn't feel right. Nobody stole clothes – and how come their bodies were so battered and bruised?

Abe shook his head. "No point troubling the cops. I don't even know where we went."

But later, he had to call them as his Camry wasn't in their garage. He reckoned that was what the guy who spiked their drinks was after. Stood to reason. It was either sold or scrapped for parts in a chop-shop.

Over the next few days, Abe and Julia's lives gradually returned to normal. They were troubled by nightmares and, more than once; Abe woke, panting, covered in sweat. Visions of a priest in yellow haunted his mind until those images faded from his waking mind. Abe was aware Julia was also troubled but she wouldn't talk about her dreams.

He returned to work, apologizing for the missed day but, surprisingly, the firm's partners were understanding. "Could happen to anyone," old Greenwood said. "You wouldn't be the first. Back in the early seventies, when I was starting out, I went to this bar, got friendly with a woman..." Then staid old Greenwood launched into a long tale, probably one of the high spots of his life, about the time he got involved with a bunch of anti Vietnam war peaceniks.

Determined to prove that he was one hundred per cent reliable, Abe worked even harder than before. Especially as the work helped drive certain unsettling thoughts from his mind.

That Sunday, Abe suggested they drive out and see if they could find the restaurant. Julia was reluctant but eventually his lawyer's silver tongue persuaded her. Taking his hire car, they drove out along the lake shore. He shuddered at the sound of the Episcopalian church's bells as they rang out in the clear morning air. Although the bells were clear, to him they sounded dull, off-key and unsettling as if summoning something that should be left to lie sleeping.

They didn't find the diner. They passed several possibilities, a couple that were boarded up including a black painted cinder-block building with a new realtor's sign outside standing forlorn on acres of parking lot behind a chain-link fence. Somebody had spray-painted the name 'Nyarlathotep' on the wall. For some reason, that Egyptian sounding word disturbed them both, triggering scary feelings, and Abe swung away onto Suder Avenue leaving the derelict building behind.

As the weeks and months passed, their nightmares diminished in both frequency and intensity as Abe and Julia got on with their lives. Oreo watched them carefully, alert for any signs of instability but the Queen of Cat's magic had done its job. Her human owners seemed well-adjusted and happy.

But far away in both space and time, the High-Priest of Leng was displeased that his offering to his dread father had escaped – that his sacrifice had failed. He sent out spies – things that crawl in the night and those that flit by moonlight – to search the spheres to find them. Nobody escapes their fate for ever...

**THE END?**


End file.
